La Mesa PD catch second chase suspect

La Mesa police apprehended a second man suspected of leading police on a car chase Sunday night that left a motorcycle officer injured.

James Francis Rachels, 27, was taken into custody after police responded at 12:37 a.m. Monday to a report of a suspicious person in the area of Jackson Drive and Fletcher Parkway who fit the description of the second man involved in the stolen vehicle chase.

The man had eluded police by running into a canyon not far from where the first suspect was caught.

The pursuit originally began around 6:30 p.m. Sunday when an officer noticed a blue 2013 Nissan Rogue at the corner of Jackson and Center drives, which had been reported stolen. The officer was injured when he lost control of his motorcycle during the pursuit and crashed into a curb in front of Jackson Park.

Officers later received a report of two men running from a blue Nissan Rogue a few miles away from the original pursuit, and caught one man, 33-year-old Michael Seymour Jr., near the corner of Lake Murray Boulevard and Connecticut Avenue.

The injured officer, later identified as Tim Purdy, suffered a minor concussion and a sore neck.